


Armour Love

by micina



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 03:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/micina/pseuds/micina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezio makes leave for Constantinople, but not before Leonardo can admit something very drastic to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Armour Love

**Author's Note:**

> written back in nov. 3rd, 2011! (SO LONG AGO)

It was as though he had given himself a deadline and continued to push it back every time he was confronted with the man. Today I'll tell him I love him, he'd think, and every time it wouldn't happen, and so every time it got pushed to the back of his mind. Maybe next time. I was caught off-guard. I can do this later.

Usually Ezio only came on business anyway, to get something repaired or built and go on his way. Occasionally he would ask him for information or stop for food, and slept on his couch many a time (though he wouldn't admit it). Even in these seemingly brief visits (which actually lasted hours but only felt like minutes to Leonardo), Ezio would stay by his side and talk with him about his life and adventures, his feelings. It was a good way to vent. He needed to.

Leonardo knew everything about him. Ezio knew everything about Leonardo. It was inevitable that this would develop into feelings, at least on Leonardo's side. He liked to pretend that those little smirks and pats on his shoulder were private, and that nobody else got that treatment. Even when he'd see Ezio give the same look and motion on a woman, he fooled himself into thinking it was only platonic with them. When it was with him, it meant something more because they knew each other. It was exclusive.

And then Ezio's visits became few and far between, but when he stayed he stayed for days. He wouldn't let Leonardo baby him, and would instead take care of him (and insist he let him), and it became something of a domestic lifestyle that Leonardo didn't know he'd craved. They would wake in the morning and make breakfast together and eat together and talk together, everything, together. And then he'd be gone again and they wouldn't speak for half a year.

His deadline became a constant pressure in his mind. If it was going to be like this, he would have to make himself tell him, even if it threatened an awkward air between them. He obviously wouldn't see him much after the confession anyway, if these gaps in visits were anything to go by.

When Ezio showed up in garbs different than his usual and a weary look on his face, Leonardo immediately knew something was wrong. Again his deadline got pushed back, but for the safety and assurance of this man. He had to make sure he was alright first.

He brought him in with a gentle push against the small of his back, and neither exchanged a word. Even after he had shut the door and heard it click, they only looked at each other and stayed silent. In this moment of scrutinization, Leonardo noticed how grey Ezio's beard was becoming, and remembered how long his own was. Not that he would shave it--Ezio often told him the look suited him.

He waited for him to speak, and yet he didn't. He only stared, a hint of apology on his face, but for what? Leonardo decided that if Ezio wouldn't break this silence, he would, and that his deadline couldn't keep getting pushed.

"Ezio," he muttered, squaring his shoulders and keeping his gaze. Ezio looked only slightly more alert, but years of training his ability to keep completely still provided intent only in his eyes. "I... Ezio, I just..."

"Perhaps I should speak first," he decided, head tilting just so as he took a step back. His interruption had broken Leonardo's will, and he shut up at once. Leaning into the door, he listened. "There is no easy way around this, so I will get straight to the point. I must travel. I will be heading to Constantinople, and I do not know if or when I will return. I have come to you to bid you farewell, and hope you will not miss me too much." He gave a smile, and though it showed his usual charm, there was an underlying amount of more apology that Leonardo hated seeing. This man could do no wrong in his eyes, so why should he even think he needed to apologize?

"Miss you?" he asked, clutching his forearm. "Of course I will." He smiled to forget the ache in his chest. "But you'll write me, won't you? So I should hope it's not too terrible."

"I knew you would be a supportive friend, Leonardo." He clapped his hand over his and pulled him close for a hug, but as he tried to move back, Leonardo wouldn't let go. The moment didn't turn awkward, and he didn't ask to be released. Instead, his cheek rested against his shoulder and he sighed as he pulled him closer. "You are like family to me, you know. This is not an easy passing."

"I know," he acknowledged, fingers tightening in his robes. They felt like wool. Did Ezio intend to walk all the way to his destination..? "I never said this was easy for me, either."

"I wish there was something more I could do for you, friend. After everything you have provided for me, I feel like I've done so little."

"Merely having you as a companion has been well enough for me." He pulled him closer still, and at the tug Ezio lifted him off his feet and squeezed him close before setting him down and pulling away. "Your company has helped me more than you know."

"Then I am glad. Is there anything else I can do, before I leave you?"

Leave you. The words felt like ice to his being. He might as well have slapped him.

"Yes. Sit down." He was going to do this. This was a threatening adventure for the man, considering his age and the distance he intended to travel with a bounty on his head. Thankfully, he wasn't one to question his friend, and sat down on the nearest chair, across from Leonardo. They looked at each other again, and the silence was comforting in its own way. "Ezio, you must understand. What I am about to tell you is important, but I do not wish it to change how you view me, unless it is positive--"

"Leonardo, do you believe I could think less of you? Nonsense. Speak what you wish, I will never judge you." His brow was furrowed, as though what he was about to hear was terrible news.

"I love you." And his expression soon changed into a look of shock.

"... And I you, my friend"

"No, you don't get it."

"I don't get it?" He grinned and lifted a brow.

"You don't." He smiled, awkwardly and tensely, and gave a tight scoff. "I love you. I adore you. It's an I-hate-that-you're-leaving love you, an aching I love you. You have no idea how long I have hidden it, only to have it be admitted now, when you intend to depart." He kept his gaze, a look of bashful hope in his eyes. "Ezio, I love you."

"And I you. That's what I said. I was not lying. I wouldn't lie to you." And again they stared, silently, and Ezio took his time to pat Leonardo's hand. "Perhaps, if we had come to this conclusion sooner, something could have worked, but... I-I can only stay for a few days."

"Please do." The words shot out faster than he could think to stop them. "I would take an extra sixty seconds with you, if it kept you here." Ezio laughed as he closed the distance between them to press a kiss to his lips, a gesture that had Leonardo tense, then melt, then sigh against him.

"I will stay as long as I can, for you. But you know I will have to leave, and this cannot be more than what we make it in these days."

"I... I understand." And I hate it.

"Good. Then help me remove my armor, so we may be comfortable while we relax in these last moments."


End file.
